Lubricating pump



Nov. 17, 1936. r w. J. GEE 2,061,422

LUBRICATING PUMP Filed Feb. 4, 1956 Fig.1.

BY MUM f (ii/M Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES OFFIE LUBRICATING PUMP England 'Application February 4, 1936, Serial No. 62,316 In Great Britain August 17, 1934 3 Claims.

The, present invention relates to lubricating pumps, more particularly pumps designed to deliver from one oil reservoir a number of feeds each having its own pump for supplying, for in- 5 stance, bearings of one or more machines, or a motor car. The object of the invention is to provide an improved pumping system of this kind in which the volume and delivery pressure to each feed can be adjusted in a very simple manner and independently of the other feeds.

Another object of my invention is to provide a pump of this character in which each feed is provided with an adjustable cylinder and a piston with a fixed stroke, together with a loaded piston valve which is adapted to be adjusted to meet the required pressure for opening the valve to discharge the lubricant to the line to be fed thereby.

Another object of my invention is to place the adjusting means for each pump cylinder and the valve loading means for said pump adjacent to each other and rotatable about a common axis.

A further object of my invention is to place the pumps in two horizontal rows, so the piunps may all be actuated by one shaft parallel to the rows of pumps, whereby I am enabled to position the effective stroke adjusting means and the valve loading adjusting means for all of the pumping units on the front of the oil reservoir.

30 The accompanying drawing shows by way of example one construction embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. l is a sectional elevation of the pump,

. Fig. 2 is a front view of part of the pump, and

Fig. 3 is a corresponding top view of part of the pump.

M is a common open or closed oil reservoir. A considerable number of pumps N and N is mounted upon the long front wall P of the reservoir in two horizontal rows, whilst the gear for operating the pumps is mounted within the reservoir. Corresponding pumps N and N of the lower and upper row are arranged in the same vertical plane. Each pump comp-rises a casing Q or Q preferably integral with the front wall P into which is screwed a pump cylinder D. In the cylinders D work plungers A. Each two corresponding plungers are actuated by double armed rocking levers B acting upon projections R of the plungers. All the rocking levers are mounted upon a common shaft S mounted in the two small sides U of the reservoir M and operated from the outside by means of a lever T. The free ends of the plungers A are guided in bearings C, whilst the operating ends of the plungers reciprocate in the cylinders D. The cylinders are b: red approximately half way of a diameter equal to the plunger diameter at one end, and at the other outer end of an increased diameter. Insorted in this larger bore is a small plunger E loaded by a spring F and performing the function of a discharge valve. The tension of the spring can be regulated by the adjustment of a small bolt G, G and locked in the required position by a lock nut H. By this adjustment of the springs E of the different piston valves, the pressure at which the valve for the pump in each line is opened can be adjusted in accordance with the resistance in the line to be fed thereby. The cylinders D are externally screw threaded and can be adjusted relatively to their plungers A by the aid of an outer milled head D and held in their adjusted positions by lock nuts I. It will be seen that two feeds in different positions are shown, the cylinder D of the upper pump being screwed more into the casing than the cylinder D of the lower pump. The cylinders D are provided with slots Z so as to allow access of the lubricant to the cylinder upon the return stroke of the plungers.

The upper cylinder D is screwed right home, in which position the full capacity of the feed is obtained, the capacity being indicated by the letter X. In the lower position, it will be seen that the cylinder D has been partially withdrawn, hence the plunger on its delivery stroke will enter into the cylinder a shorter distance Y so that this feed has been reduced in capacity.

The small plunger E serves to close the delivery openings K communicating with an annulus L which communicates with a screw threaded delivery port J.

The operation is as fol1ows:-

During the suction stroke of a plunger A, the discharge valve E under the action of its spring F closes the cylinder and the delivery openings K. At the end of the suction stroke or during a part of the suction stroke, oil flows through the slot Z of the cylinder into the cylinder. During the discharge stroke, the oil that has flowed into the cylinder forces the discharge valve E outwards against the action of the spring so as to uncover the end of the working space of the cylinder and the discharge holes, and flows into the discharge port J. It will be understood that the plunger A does not operate a discharge valve E directly, but only through the medium of the oil.

If the pump cylinder is fully screwed home, the maximum amount of oil is delivered and the piston will at the end of its working strokes be at the minimum distance from the discharge opening, as shown in the upper part of Fig. 1. If the pump cylinder is not fully screwed home, only part of the stroke of the plunger will be utilized and the quantity of oil delivered will be proportionately less, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 1.

It will be seen that the head D of the cylinder D and the head of the adjusting screw G are arranged coaxially very near each other so that each pump can be very rapidly adjusted both as regards volume and pressure from the outside.

It may be pointed out that it has previously been pro-posed in connection with fuel injection pumps to vary the volume of the charge by sliding the cylinder relatively to the piston.

I claim:

1. A lubricating pump comprising an oil reservoir, a pump cylinder extending through a wall of the reservoir, a piston in the inner end of the cylinder within the reservoir, means for imparting a constant stroke to the piston, there being an inlet for admitting liquid to the inner end of the cylinder from the reservoir, there being an outlet port extending through the cylinder, a piston valve in the cylinder controlling the outlet 'port, a spring in the cylinder for moving the valve to its closed position, an adjusting screw in the outer end of the cylinder for adjusting the pressureof the spring for varying the pressure required to open the valve, and means for longitudinally adjusting the cylinder relative to the piston to vary the effective stroke of the piston.

2. A lubricating pump comprising an oil reservoir, a pump casing on a wall of the reservoir, there being a threaded opening through the easing and the wall of the reservoir, a pump cylinder threaded in the opening in the casing and wall of the, reservoir and adapted to be adjusted therein, there being a chamber in the casing surrounding the cylinder and an outlet port extending from said chamber through the casing, the cylinder having a bore at its inner end to fit a piston and a bore of larger diameter extending inwardly from the outer end thereof, a piston valve in the larger bore, a seat for the valve at the inner end of the larger bore, a spring in, the larger bore for moving the valve against its seat, a spring tensioning screw threaded in the outer end of the larger bore, there being a port communicating with the inner end of the larger bore and the chamber in the casing, a piston in the inner end of the cylinder extending into the reservoir, means in the reservoir for imparting a constant stroke to the piston, there being an inlet port through the inner end of the cylinder, and means on the outer end of the cylinder concentric with the spring tensioning screw for adjusting the cylinder relative to the piston, for varying the effective stroke of the piston.

3. A lubricating pump comprising an oil reservoir, upper and lower pumping units in the front wall of the reservoir, each unit comprising a cylinder threaded in the wall of the reservoir and arranged tobe adjusted longitudinally therein, a piston in each cylinder extending into the reservoirs, a guide for each piston in the reservoir, a shaft in the reservoir between the two rows of pumping units extending at right angles to the axes of the cylinders, actuating connections between the pistons. and the shaft whereby a constant stroke is imparted to the pistons, each cylinder having an inlet port from the reservoir and an outlet port, a piston valve in each cylinder controlling the outlet port, a loading spring for each valve, an adjusting screw in each cylinder extending outwardly therefrom beyond the wall of the reservoir for varying the tension of the spring, and means on each of the cylinders beyond the wall of the reservoir and concentric with the spring adjusting screw for adjusting the cylinder relative to its piston to vary the efiective stroke of the piston.

WILLIAM JOHN GEE. 

